every once in a while, an idea comes into one's head that is just so perfect in its simplicity, that it literally leaves one breathless, gasping for air.
Chemosphere must have been one of those ideas, and must have left its creator - the late John Lautner - nearly dead the moment it crystalized in his mind. for Lautner, in his genius, had found a way to solve an engineering and architectural conundrum in the most elegant way imaginable.
that Lautner did this in Real Life nearly fifty years ago, surmounting challenges of Real Life gravity, slope instability and structural strength, is all the more remarkable.
i can't remember when exactly i first learned about Lautner's iconic Chemosphere, and (i'm not sure if this is ironic or not) i first learned about it through its replica in Second Life (built by Fatz Scheflo of SCM Industries), and not the structure in Real Life.
i only knew that i had to have Chemosphere grace one of my plots, but the problem was finding an environmental and functional context for Chemosphere that honoured its perfection, instead of trying to force fit it into an existing landscape, just to make a visual statement.
i think i have finally found the perfect site and situation for it (and i apologise for the repetition of 'perfect', but that concept comes up a lot in ruminations about Chemosphere), with my recent acquisition of Sky Island Bay.
i'm deliberately not posting a pic here. i believe this is one instance in which no picture would do the structure justice, because (as i've tried to convey) it's not just Chemosphere per se, but how its form arises so effortlessly from its function in the sim. but more than that, i honestly believe that just as Lautner made the architectural world rethink all its assumptions in 1960, i have gone a little way along that path in 2007 with my interpretation of this architectural wonder.
Additional reading:
- Chemosphere, the John Lautner Foundation
- Chemosphere, waltlockley.com
- Chemosphere (wikipedia entry)
[update: Chemosphere was dismantled on 26 May 2008]
Technorati Tags: geography, landmarks, place, Second Life
